Equifax Warns About Impact of Data Breach on its Business

Equifax on Friday issued a fourth-quarter profit outlook that fell short of Wall Street expectations, saying the massive breach of its consumer data earlier this year would hurt sales and result in costs of $60 million to $75 million during the period.

Executives at the credit-reporting company blamed the expected revenue decline on delays in contract signing from business and government customers, which began in the third quarter and continued into the current quarter.

“We’re hoping to win back their trust and then be able to regain the business that we’ve indicated has been deferred,” CFO John Gamble said in the call. “We’re still working through that process.”

Equifax shares (efx) were little changed in midday trading. They have dropped around 25% since the company’s Sept. 7 disclosure of the breach that exposed sensitive data on 145.5 million consumers.

Analysts on Friday’s call probed Equifax for further details on its recovery effort. The company declined to provide estimates on total costs from the breach or say how much might be covered by insurance.

“When is your cyber security going to be up to code, or up to standard, or however you want to define that?” asked Wells Fargo Securities analyst William Warmington.

“This is a journey,” interim CEO Paulino do Rego Barros Jr. responded, saying the firm was working to make sure its security team could protect current systems.